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DVD (HD - Wide Screen)

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Overview

The Ant Bully

A kid who hates ants finds himself living among the six-legged critters in this computer-animated comedy-adventure. Lucas Nickle (voice of Zach Tyler Eisen) is a ten-year-old boy whose family has just moved to a new town, and Lucas isn't enjoying it much -- he hasn't made any friends yet, his big sister ignores him, his parents (voices of Larry Miller and Cheri Oteri) are occupied with their upcoming vacation in Mexico, and his loving but slightly crazy grandmother (voice of Lily Tomlin) is convinced space aliens are casing out the neighborhood. To make matters worse, the local bully has found Lucas and is making his life miserable, so the boy looks for someone he can push around -- and he soon finds a large colony of ants in his yard. Lucas takes out his frustrations by stomping, drowning, and burying the bugs, little realizing the ants see him as a threat to their safety and aren't about take his attacks lying down. Zoc (voice of Nicolas Cage) is a "wizard ant" who creates a formula that shrinks Lucas to the size of an insect, and the tiny boy is brought before the leader of the Ant Council (voice of Ricardo Montalban) and the Queen of the Colony (voice of Meryl Streep) to answer for his crimes against the ants. Showing compassion, the queen sentences Lucas not to death, but to live among them and see how difficult their circumstances can be. Nurse Ant Hova (voice of Julia Roberts) is put in charge of looking after Lucas, and with the help of Scout Fugax (voice of Bruce Campbell) and Forager Kreela (voice of Regina King), Lucas gets an eye-opening picture of how the other half lives -- just in time for Lucas to help the ants in an all-out battle against Stan (voice of Paul Giamatti), a pest-control man brought in to get rid of the bugs. Produced by Tom Hanks, The Ant Bully was written and directed by John A. Davis, who handled the same chores on the film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.

Editorial Reviews

"I'm big and you're small." With these withering and demeaning words, Steve, the neighborhood bully, torments young Lucas (dubbed "Peanut" by his mother) with atomic wedgies and dog piles. Lucas takes out his frustrations on an anthill, which he subjects to kicks, stomps, and torrents from his water gun and garden hose. But Zoc (Nicolas Cage), an ant wizard, retaliates against "Peanut the Destroyer" by shrinking him down to size. The Ant Queen (Meryl Streep) decrees that the colony endeavor to "change the nature of this human" and teach him the communal ways of the ant. Hova (Julia Roberts) patiently mentors Lucas about cooperation and teamwork, hard work, and selflessness. Lucas will learn to think of others besides himself when marauding wasps and a sadistic exterminator (Paul Giamatti) threaten the colony. Based on the slight book by John Nickle, The Ant Bully benefits from its A-list voice cast (which adults should appreciate more than children) and dazzling animation that vividly depicts a bug's life and views the human world from a minuscule perspective (blades of grass seem like sequoias). Director John A. Davis's credits include Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and The Ant Bully could have used that film's satirical edge or at least more and better jokes. There are the inevitable gross-out gags (you don't want to know where the "honey-dew drops" Lucas slurps up originate from!), but the ants' altruistic philosophy provides a good role model and serves Lucas well when he returns to normal size and rallies his fellow victims to nonviolently turn the tables on Steve. The Ant Bully was a confounding box office disappointment. Like The Iron Giant, this overlooked film should find an appreciative audience on DVD.

Barnes & Noble - Donald Liebenson

The glut of digital animation that hit theaters in 2006 finally took its toll -- on the wrong movie. Despite first-rate visuals, an all-star vocal cast, and a new spin on some familiar territory, The Ant Bully trickled out of the Top Ten within three weekends, leaving Warner Bros. and producer Tom Hanks with a certified flop. Meanwhile, Barnyard's box office continued to prove the earning power of far less inventive films. Antz and A Bug's Life may have gotten to this microscopic world eight years earlier, but it took The Ant Bully to explore the age-old one-sided battle between ants and "human destroyers" -- i.e., cruel children who stomp on anthills. Director John A. Davis and company have developed an imaginative variation on the landscape their predecessors established, one that's surprisingly unburdened by what came before. Plus, they've provided children a positive message regarding perspective that has both a literal interpretation (don't kill other living creatures) and a figurative one (don't pick on the little guy). Although Lucas Nickle adapts unnaturally quickly to his change in circumstances -- nary a freak-out about his shrunken size -- his immersion in the colony and eventual bonding with its members are both handled well. This sets up a series of strong set pieces, including a wasp attack, a mission into Lucas' house to get "sweet rocks" (jelly beans), and a narrow escape from a determined bullfrog. The climactic battle against the exterminator -- voiced by Paul Giamatti in a regrettably brief showpiece of vulgarity -- is a final summary of all the film's clever decisions about size and the possibilities therein. If audiences finally decided they preferred something really "different," it was a poor time to reach that conclusion. Better to give fresh life to old material than approach new material in a derivative way.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Over all the movie was a cute movie and definitely geared for children. It does teach an important lesson about not being a bully but the kids may or may not get it.

Guest

More than 1 year ago

My kids wanted me to purchase this DVD even though I wasn&#8217;t quite enthused on getting it since it release date. After watching this with the kids it turned out to be better than what I expected. I was rewarded with a simple movie that looks great and delivers a simple message. It also turned out to have enough action sequences in it to keep things interesting, minimum scary moments for the younger ones. Even though it&#8217;s been eight years after &#8220;Antz&#8221; and &#8220;A Bug&#8217;s Life&#8221; went head to head, Warner Bros pitches in with an alarmingly uninspired addition to the computerised insect genre. Indeed, from the little boy who gets shrunk to creepy-crawly size (James And The Giant Peach) to the malevolent exterminator sent to wipe him out (Over The Hedge), and forced to live inside an ant colony to realize the error of his ways. With that being said there&#8217;s little John A Davis&#8217; adaptation of John Nickle&#8217;s kiddies&#8217; book we haven&#8217;t seen before. What makes &#8220;The Ant Bully&#8221; stand out to me, is its departure to a lot of elements which have become staple to recent animated flicks. Gone here are the pop songs played during the movie, or characters breaking out into song and dance. While jokes are still incorporated, it's more witty than slapstick, and there is a severe lack of references to current pop culture, which I thought was a refreshing change. However, there was only one sequence which reminded me of Star War's X-Wing fighters and their attack on the Death Star, right down to the same plot details of having just 1 shot down a shaft to take out the enemy. Secondly the voice cast mainly, Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep proving no Hollywood star is immune to the painless cash injection these pics provide. And yes, Paul Giamatti is good value as the cigar-chomping pest guy whose heaving bulk becomes the amusing backdrop for a climactic aerial battle. Try not to be put off by the animation similarities to &#8220;Antz.&#8221; By itself, there isn't any flaws in the graphics, which turned out superbly when watched in a digital format. Its storyline will be able to engage you, even though at first glance it might seem a little simple at a superficial level. &#8220;Ant Bully&#8221; is a good movie that makes one learns valuable lessons about friendship, compassion, teamwork and loyalty that will serve for the rest of life while having the courage to stand up for oneself no matter what the odds!

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